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Conductor Bramwell Tovey on Performing at the Hollywood Bowl

July 07, 2015

See Bramwell Tovey live at the Hollywood Bowl conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Garrick Ohlsson in an all-Rachmaninoff program on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 8 p.m. Tickets available now at http://hollywoodbowl.com/rach.
Bramwell Tovey will also be conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, July 16, 2015 for an all-Beethoven program featuring violinist Martin Chalifour. Tickets available now at http://hollywoodbowl.com/beethoven.
The always charming and affable Bramwell Tovey is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He holds honorary degrees from the universities of British Columbia, Manitoba, Kwantlen and Winnipeg. In 2013 he was appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of Canada for services to music.
In this archival interview footage from 2013, the British conductor, composer and pianist describes a bit of his history with LA's iconic outdoor music venue, the one-and-only Hollywood Bowl:
"The [Hollywood] Bowl is an incredible place," Bramwell Tovey says. "When I first came to the Bowl, it was the 'old Bowl.' My dressing room was on one side and I never saw the orchestra because they never came around that side. There wasn't a corridor in the back and you just didn't get to meet anyone. I enjoyed the [Hollywood] Bowl, but I didn't have that 'warm and fuzzy' experience because I never got to say, 'Hello,' to anyone. When I came back to the 'new Bowl,' now it's great because everyone mingles backstage and it's much more collegial and friendly."
On the experience of performing for an audience he can see before sunset and then can't see after sunset, Bramwell Tovey says: "Usually the way it's organized, you start at 8 o'clock and the sun starts to go down a quarter of an hour or so later. When I look around at the audience and I speak to the audience for the first time, I can see everyone in the audience ... right the way to the back. And if it's packed, if it's 18,000 people, it's thrilling. But as soon as [it gets] dark, the only people I can see are the front seats ... but you can feel this tremendous energy coming at you from the auditorium and sometimes cameras going off, and it's absolutely thrilling."
Learn more about this Grammy and Juno award-winning conductor, composer and pianist at http://hollywoodbowl.com/philpedia/bramwell-tovey.